Air conditioning apparatus



March 18, 1947. A, H, 55am-MRT 2,417,743

AIR CONDITION-ING APPARATUS Filed July 1s, v1941 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 F'IGJ INVENTQR ARTHUR H.E

F1a.. Z.

March 18,- 1947.

A. H. EBERHART AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Fild July 16, 1941 FMLB.

. I mvEmoR ARTHUR H.E5EF:HART.

Patented Mar. 18, 19.47

AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS Arthur H. Eberhart, Springfield, Mass., assignor to Westinghouse Electric Corporation, East Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application July 16, 1941, serial No. 402,601

(o1. zei-7s) 10 Claims. 1

My invention relates to air conditioning apparatus, more particularly to apparatus for spraying water into an air stream, and it has for an object to provide improved apparatus.

A more particular object is to provide apparatus for sprayingwater from a pan or the like into an air stream above, which apparatus re.

quires no moving parts other vthan that which moves the stream of air.

In accordance with my invention, I provide a tab or strip of sheet metal or the like extending upwardly from the Water, preferably in an inclined direction, into the air stream. I iind that a suction is created on the downstream side of the tab or strip and draws the water upwardly along the strip, and that the water is then carried off in the air stream in the form of a spray.

My invention is particularly suitable as a condensate disposal means in an air-cooled room cooler. The condensate formed on the evaporator is sprayed into the condenser air stream, and preferably onto the condenser. also suitable for a regular evaporative condenser, as it sprays suiiicient water to effect substantially complete wetting of the outer or air-cooled surfaces of the condenser.

These land other objects are effected by my invention as will be apparent from the following description and claims taken in accordance with the accompanying drawings forming a. part of this application, in which: y

Fig. 1 is a, vertical section showing an air cooled room cooler incorporating my invention;

Fig. 2 is -a detail sectional view taken on the line II-II of Fig. 1;

Figs. 3 and 4 are elevational views showing a second embodiment of I'ny invention;

Figs. 5 and 6 are elevational views of a third embodiment;

Fig; 7 is a plan view of a third embodiment;

Fig. 8 is a plan View of an evaporative condenser incorporating my invention; and' Fig. 9is a side elevation of the evaporative condenser.

Figs. 1 and 2 Referring to the drawing in detail, I show a self-contained room cooler I 0 which isf"- mounted adjacent a window on the floor of the room which ing extended heat transfer surfaces. Suitable provision is made toprovide iiow of air into the room cooler and to the rear ofthe evaporator, then forwardly over the surfaces of the tubes and finsl of the evaporator, and for discharging the air upwardly through an outlet I'I into the room.

The condenser I3 is of any suitable construction, such as the conventional cross-iin coil. It is located just below the partition I4, and a centrifugal fan I8 is disposed below (for the most part directly below) the condenser forv directingr a stream of air' onto and over the surfaces of the condenser. The fan I 8 includes a rotor or blade wheel I9 mounted on a shaft 20, which may be driven by an electric motor (not shown). The fan further includes a convolute casing 2| disposed as shown in Fig. 1 with its outlet 22 at the top. A duct member 23 is connected to the outlet 22 and to the condenser, and serves to direct the air discharged from the fan casing Onto the front and a portion of the bottom of the bank of condenser tubes. A window duct structure 24 provides communication with the window, and contains an inlet passage 25 for v conveying outdoor air to/a portion of the housing which communicates with the inlet of the fan I8 and an outlet passage 26 for conveying the air discharged from the condenser to outdoors, as clearly shown on the drawing.

A drip pan 21 is disposed under the evaporator I2 for collecting the moisture which is condensed on the surfaces of the evaporator from the air it serves. The room cooler I0 includes a housing or cabinet I I and a, refrigerating system contained within the housing. The refrigerating system includes an evaporator I2, a condenser I3, and a motor-compressor unit and expansion device (not shown), all connected in a complete refrigerant circuit in a well-known manner. The evaporator I2 is disposed in the upper part of the room cooler above a partition I4. The evaporator I2 comprises a plurality of parallel tubes I5 containing refrigerant at low temperature and a plurality of transverse plates or ns I6 providwhich is cooled thereby. The condensate drains.

by gravity through a conduit 28 into a pan 29 disposed at the bottom of the room cooler. The bottom of the blower casing extends down into the pan 29. At the lowermost point of the blower casing, a tab or strip 30 is cut out of the casing and bent to extend upwardly in an inclined direction as shown on the drawing. The hole in the casing formed by cutting out the tab 30 is designated 3l. The lower end of the tab 30 is spaced about 1A; or g inch from the bottom of the pan. Thus, the tab extends down into or sufciently close to the water in the pan 29 to assure that the water will be drawn upwardly as hereinafter explained, while'a space is also provided for ow of water from the pan into the opening 3 I.

The remaining parts of the room cooler, including the motor-compressor unit, the expansion device, the evaporator air fan and the motor for driving the fans, are not shown as they may be of any suitable known construction and arrangement so far as the present invention is concerned, reference being made to my copending application Serial No. 321,875, filed March 2, 1940, which discloses in greater detail a construction of room cooler to which the present co invention is applicable.

Operation-Figs. .l and 2 The refrigerating system in the room cooler operates in the usual manner of such apparatus, liquid refrigerant at reduced pressure being conveyed through the evaporator tubes to maintain the evaporator alba low temperature, and the hot compressed gaseous refrigerant being conveyed through the tubes of the condenser I3 for the purpose of dissipating the rejected heat from the refrigerating system. The air to be cooled ows forwardly over the evaporator and into the room. The evaporator is maintained at a suiliciently low temperature so that, ordinarily, it cools the air below its dew point,thereby condensing moisture out ofthe air. The moisture is collected in the drain pan V21 and conveyed by gravitythrough'the conduit 28 to the pan 25.

The fan I8 operates to eiect circulation of outdoor air over the tubes, of the condenser in orderY to carry away the rejected heat,` the air flowi ing inwardly through the passage 25 into the housing and mto the inlet of the fan la. The fan discharges the air onto the surfaces of the condenser tubes, from which it flows through the passage 2B to outdoors. Within the fan casing 2I, the air is rotated in counterclockwise direction, as seen in Fig. 1, so that at the bottom of the fan casing the air ows from left to right in a substantially horizontal direction. As the air passes the tab 30, it creates a suction on the downstream side of the tab. This suction draws water from the pan 29 upwardly along the back or downstream side of the tab. As the water moves upwardly, it is drawn into'the air stream in the form of a spray and` at least substantial portions thereof are carried along with the air onto the air cooled surfaces of the condenser I3. Particles of water'which are. too large to be carried by the air stream fall to the bottom of the fan casing and iiow to the downstream side of the tab 30, from which they are again drawn upwardly and sprayed into the air Stream. The water sprayed onto the air cooled surfaces of the condenserv is-vevaporated by the heat supplied by the condenser and the resulting vapor is carried 4offl with the air stream through the passage 26 to outdoors.

Figs. 3 and 4 Inv Figs. `3 and 4, I'show a modified form of my invention in which the fan housing is disl posed to discharge the air horizontally, the outlet extending down into a drain pan 32. The fan casing is formed with a channel or passage 33 through which water can flow fromleft to right, as seen in Fig. 3. A tab or strip 34 is spotwelded or otherwise fastened to the upper wall of the channel 33 and extends in an upwardly-inclined direction, as shown in Fig. 3.

In the operation of this embodiment, the air flowing horizontally past the strip 34 creates a suction on the back or downstream side of the strip. Accordingly, water in the pan is drawn up along the back of the strip and is then carried off into the air stream. The air stream mayA be directed onto an air cooled condenser, as in the rst embodiment.

Figs. 5, a and 7 In Figs. 5, y6 and 1, I show an embodiment of my invention, the specific A. form of which was proposed by Knud J. Helsing and Joseph Scattoloni. In this embodiment, the fan is provided with an outlet passage 35 of some length. The

outlet passage 35 rests on the bottom of the pan 36. A plurality-of upwardly-extending, inclined tabs or fingers 31 are placed in the blower casing adjacent the beginning of the passage 35, as shown'in Fig. 5. The fan casing is formed with openings 38 disposed directly under the tabs 31 to provide for admission of the water which is to be sprayed. The length of the passage 35 beyond the tabs 31 provides for restricted air ow which improves the operation of the atomizing Y Figs. 8 and. 9

In the first embodiment, the condenser serves as an evaporative condenser to the extent of the water which is available; namely, the moisture condensed from the air. The amount of this water, howeven'is not sulcient to effectcomplete wetting of the air cooled surfaces of the condenser. In Figs. 8 and 9, I show my invention incorporated in a regular evaporativecon-v denser, that is, a condenser provided with an adequate supply of water to effect substantially complete wettingof the air cooled surface of the condenser. The specific construction of the embodiment shown in Figs. 8 and `9,- at least for the most part, is the invention'of Richard E. Hohnes.

The evaporative condenser unit, indicated generally by the reference numeral 40, includes a pan 4I, a housing 42 extending down into the pan, a condenser coil 43 and a centrifugal fan 44l A transverse partition 45 separates the spaces which are on the suction and discharge sides, respectively, of the fan 44. A liquid receiver 46 may be disposedwithin the housing 42, as shown. Water is supplied to the pan 4I by a conduit 41, the flow of the water being controlled by a float valve 48 to maintain a predetermined level, such as that indicated at 49. A plurality of strips 5I are attached to the bottom of the fan housing 42 at the outlet, as shown in Fig. 9, and extend upwardly in an inclined direction across the stream of airfwhich is discharged horizontally from the fan housing. In this embodiment also,

the velocity of the air moving horizontally past` the strips 5I creates a suction on the back or downstream side of each strip, so that the water lying in the pan 4I is drawn upwardly along the back of the strip and is then carried along by the air onto theY air cooled surfaces of the condenser coil 43. I find that with this arrangement the airl cooled surfaces of the condenser coil 43 are substantially completely wetted, therenected to the flange 53 surrounding the outlet opening 52.

y From the above description it will be seen that I have provided apparatus for spraying water into an air stream, which apparatus is simple and requires no moving parts other than that used to move the stream of air, and which apparatus I have found to be fully effective to accomplish the desired object.

While I have shown my invention in several forms, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various other changes and modifications without departing fromr the spirit thereof, and I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be placed thereupon as are specifically set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a liquid-atomizing device, the combination of means for retaining liquid, said retaining means having an imperforate bottom, means effecting flow of a stream of air at a substantial velocity above the liquid in said retaining means,

said strip whereby liquid is drawn upwardly from said retaining means and entrained in said air stream, said stream of air ilowing on opposite sides of said strip.

2. The combination of receptacle means for retaining a body of water, said retaining means having an imperforate bottom, a strip extending upwardly in an inclined direction from the body of water in said receptacle means, and means for moving a stream of air past the opposite edges of said strip.

3. In apparatus for spraying water, the combination of means providing movement of a stream of air at a substantial velocity, a strip extending upwardly into said stream, and means for delivering water to the downstream side of said strip at the lower end thereof, said water being drawn upwardly along said downstream side of the strip by a suction or reduced pressure created by thevelocity of the air stream moving past the opposite edges ofsaid strip.

4. In apparatus for spraying a liquid, the combination of a pan adapted to retain a body of water, the bottom of said pan being imperforate, means for effecting flow of a stream of air at a substantial velocity and in a generally horizontal direction over the water in said pan, and an inclined strip extending upwardly and in downstream direction from the body of water in the pan and into said air stream, said stream of air owing on opposite sides of said strip.

5. The combination of a pan adapted to retain a body of water, a centrifugal fan eilecting a jet of air in a generally horizontal direction over the top of the body of water in said pan, and an inclined strip extending from said body of water into said air stream in an upward and downstream direction, said strip being on the discharge side of said pan, whereby water is drawn upwardly on the under side of said strip and at least partly carried off by said air stream.

6. In apparatus for spraying liquid into an air stream, a centrifugal fan including a casing mounted with its axis of rotation disposed horizontally, said casing being formed with an opening in the bottom thereof and provided with a narrow strip extending upwardly from the upstream side of said opening, the side edges of said strip being spaced from the opposite sides of said fan casing so that liquid entering through 6 said opening is drawn upwardly on the down'- stream side of said strip and into said air stream.

7. In apparatus for spraying liquid into an air stream, a centrifugal fan including a casing mounted with its axis of rotation disposed horizontally, said casing being formed with an opening in the bottom thereof and provided with a narrow strip extending upwardly from the upstream side of said opening and spaced from the opposite sides of said casing, and means for delivering liquid to said opening from the outside of the casing to be drawn upwardly along the downstream side of said strip and into the air stream flowing in the casing.

8. In apparatus forspraying water into an air stream, the combination of a pan for holding liquid, a centrifugal fan mounted with its axis yof rotation disposed horizontally and including a casing having a rounded wall, the lowermost part of said rounded wall being disposed directly above and close to the bottom of `said pan and formed' with an opening for admission of liquid from said pan into said casing, a narrow strip within said casing extending upwardly from the upstream side of said opening into the air stream motivated by the fan, said air stream ilowing past the opposite sides of said strip and creating a suction or reduced pressure on the downstream side of said strip to draw liquid upwardly from said pan through said opening into the fan casing on the downstream side of said strip from whence it is carried into the air stream in the form of a spray.-

9. Apparatus for spraying liquid into an air stream comprising means including a fan for effecting ilow of a stream of air in a generally horizontal direction, a strip extending upwardly into said air stream, and means for supplying liquid to the downstream side of said strip below the top thereof, the parts being constructed and arranged so that liquid is drawn upwardly along the downstream side of said strip by the reduced pressure produced by the velocity of the air flowing past the opposite sides of said strip.

l-0. Apparatus for spraying liquid into an air stream comprising means including a pan for retaining a body of liquid, a fan discharging a stream of air over said liquid, and a strip extending upwardly from said liquid into said air stream, the parts being constructed and arranged so that liquid is drawn upwardly from said retaining means on the downstream side of said strip by the reduced pressure produced by the velocity of the air flowing past said strip.

ARTHUR H. EBERHART.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the ille of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name -Date 670,237 Kestner Mar. 19, 1901 1,024,281 Prott Apr. 23, 1912 1,801,565 Norton Apr. 21, 1931 1,214,114 Andrews Jan. 30, 1917 1,941,864 Kehrberg Jan. 2, 1934 2,062,728 Roberts Dec. 1, 1936 2,120,490 Drummond June 14, 1938 2,171,574 Lambert et al Sept. 5, 1939 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 25,713 vBritish Nov. 10, 1913 

